Three family members dead after remote Queensland shooting
Three people have died and a fourth is fighting for his life after a shooting in a remote Queensland town.
Police were called to the cattle property in Bogie, northwest of Mackay, around 9am on Thursday after a man with a gunshot wound to his stomach called for help.
"The male was able to tell police that he had been shot and that three other people had been shot," Acting Superintendent Tom Armitt said during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
After police arrived on the scene, the man was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition as officers searched the area for the other victims.
"It has taken a number of hours for police to search and clear the area however we have found a crime scene in a remote rural location where we believe we have located three deceased persons," Supt Armitt said.
Police said its understood the three people killed are family members of the man in hospital and that they fear the gunman is still on the loose in the area.
"We believe that the persons who has shot them may be in the area which is why we’re conducting our own searches at this present time so we can establish our own safety," Supt Armitt said.
An emergency lockdown is in place at the rural property along Shannonvale Road and members of the public and aircrafts have been urged to stay away.
Supt Armitt said none of the deceased have been formally identified yet and declined to say if the victims and the shooter were known to each other.
"It's very early in the investigation," he said, adding that they have not been able to get more information from the man who survived because he's in emergency surgery.
A Bogie resident told The Courier Mail the incident likely stems from a property dispute between two owners who have clashed previously.
Update: An earlier declaration made off Sutherland Road under the Public Safety Preservation Act has been revoked and a new declaration established on Shannonvale Road. https://t.co/UIkye6s8pS pic.twitter.com/jtiypDQ7ed
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) August 4, 2022
Earlier, a RACQ spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that multiple people were injured in the shooting.
"Early accounts are three in the paddock and one in the home," they said.
Queensland Ambulance Service said eight crews had been sent to the incident coming from Mackay, Townsville and Rockhampton.
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